Last rites and human rights: funeral pyres and religious freedom in the United Kingdom

This article considers the litigation in Ghai v Newcastle City Council in which the legality of open air funeral pyres under the Cremation Act 1902, and under the right to freedom of religion and belief in article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, was considered. Ultimately the Court of Appeal held that open air funeral pyres within a walled enclosure were not unlawful. But at first instance the Administrative Court, which had assumed that domestic law prohibited such pyres, had held that such a ban would not breach article 9 since it was legitimate to prevent causing offence to the majority of the population. It is the approach of the Administrative Court to article 9 (which was not considered by the Court of Appeal) that forms the basis of the critical analysis in this article. In particular it is argued that the Administrative Court undervalued the right to freedom of religion and belief, as against the need to prevent offence to others, and adopted a stance which was overly deferential to Government and Parliament

Empathy and human rights: the case of religious dress

There has been a huge growth in the study of the concept of empathy - taking the perspective of others - across academic disciplines in recent decades. However, whilst a number of scholars and philosophers have argued that empathy might provide some theoretical underpinning for human rights norms, there has been little exploration as to how empathy might actually be used in the practical adjudication of human rights claims. This article seeks to address this gap. By using as a case study the European Court of Human Rights case law on Article 9 on religious dress and symbols, the authors explore how the concept of empathy might improve the Court’s adjudication on this issue via a process of attempting to understand and give weight to the profound commitment that religious dress/symbols may represent to people of faith

Highly efficient separation of actinides from lanthanides by a phenanthroline-derived bis-triazine ligand

The synthesis, lanthanide complexation, and solvent ex- traction of actinide(III) and lanthanide(III) radiotracers from nitric acid solutions by a phenanthroline-derived quadridentate bis-triazine ligand are described. The ligand separates Am(III) and Cm(III) from the lanthanides with remarkably high efficiency, high selectivity, and fast extraction kinetics compared to its 2,2'-bipyridine counterpart. Structures of the 1:2 bis-complexes of the ligand with Eu(III) and Yb(III) were elucidated by X-ray crystallography and force field calculations, respec-tively. The Eu(III) bis-complex is the first 1:2 bis-complex of a quadridentate bis-triazine ligand to be characterized by crystallography. The faster rates of extraction were verified by kinetics measurements using the rotating membrane cell technique in several diluents. The improved kinetics of metal ion extraction are related to the higher surface activity of the ligand at the phase interface. The improvement in the ligand's properties on replacing the bipyridine unit with a phenanthroline unit far exceeds what was anticipated based on ligand design alone

Recent trends in the use of electrical neuromodulation in Parkinson's disease

Purpose of Review: This review aims to survey recent trends in electrical forms of neuromodulation, with a specific application to Parkinson’s disease (PD). Emerging trends are identified, highlighting synergies in state-of-the-art neuromodulation strategies, with directions for future improvements in stimulation efficacy suggested. Recent Findings: Deep brain stimulation remains the most common and effective form of electrical stimulation for the treatment of PD. Evidence suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) most likely impacts the motor symptoms of the disease, with the most prominent results relating to rehabilitation. However, utility is limited due to its weak effects and high variability, with medication state a key confound for efficacy level. Recent innovations in transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offer new areas for investigation. Summary: Our understanding of the mechanistic foundations of electrical current stimulation is advancing and as it does so, trends emerge which steer future clinical trials towards greater efficacy